Ubisoft's Uplay adds third-party games, EA's Origin nabs Ubisoft ones

Ubisoft's Uplay service, a hub for purchasing Ubisoft PC games, has expanded to include third-party titles from major publishers such as EA, Warner Bros., Focus Home Interactive, Freebird Games, Paradox Interactive, Telltale Games and more. A few games listed at launch are Batman: Arkham City GOTYE, Crysis 3, Orcs Must Die 2, The Walking Dead and To the Moon.

To entice potential customers to check out the new and improved Uplay, Ubisoft offers a free copy of one of the following games with a purchase of £16.99 or more (excluding pre-orders), now through March 4: Driver San Francisco Deluxe Edition, From Dust, Might and Magic Heroes 6 Deluxe Edition, Rayman Origins, The Settlers 7 Gold Edition or World in Conflict: Complete Edition. Uplay members can also redeem rewards for Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 for free during this time.

As part of the deal, Ubisoft is throwing its own games onto EA's Origin service, another PC digital distribution hub.

In September, Ubisoft teased the idea of offering games from other publishers on Uplay, and said that the service would eventually feature things "beyond digital distribution."

"Ubisoft is committed to continually improving Uplay and making it the most rewarding set of services available to our customers," said Stephanie Perotti, Worldwide Director of Uplay at Ubisoft. "Adding excellent titles from EA, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and many other top developers to Uplay shop means that players now have more choice in where and how they purchase games online,"

To encourage customers to try the expanded Uplay shop, Ubisoft is offering a free digital copy of Driver® San Francisco Deluxe Edition, From Dust, Might & Magic® Heroes® VI Deluxe Edition, Rayman® Origins, The Settlers 7™ Gold Edition or World in Conflict®: Complete Edition, with the purchase of any game priced £16.99 or higher (excluding pre-orders), from today through March 4. In addition, Uplay members can redeem all Assassin's Creed® 3 and Far Cry® 3 Uplay rewards for free during the promotion.

"We're thrilled to be bringing EA titles to Uplay and Ubisoft titles to Origin – the more choice for consumers, the better in today's gaming world," said Michael Blank, Vice President of Production for Origin™ at EA. "Offering games like Dead Space 3, Need for Speed Most Wanted and more on Uplay is a great opportunity to reach even more PC gamers worldwide."

Pre-orders for titles like EA's SimCity™ Limited Edition are also available. In addition, Ubisoft announced that it is now selling its games through EA's Origin digital download service, including Assassins Creed III and Far Cry 3. For more information, please visit www.origin.com.

Uplay offers 50M members across PC, console and mobile platforms a rich set of services including a friends list and messaging, cloud saves, achievements, social challenges and more. Using their Uplay identity, gamers have access to a unique program which rewards them with exclusive content and events for their loyalty across any Ubisoft game, and on any platform.